About

About the project

SmellsLikeCodfish is a structured digital repository and systematized catalogue dedicated to the documentation, valuation, and preservation of the historical heritage of video games developed in Portugal and by Portuguese creators worldwide — a scene whose contributions have too often gone unrecorded.

Each entry aims to capture not just a title, but its context: the studio, the year, the platforms it reached, and the story of how it came to be. Studios and creators are documented too, so the people behind the work are remembered alongside it.

Our goal is simple — to make sure this work is remembered, valued, and freely accessible to researchers, players, and future creators.

What belongs here

A game belongs in this archive when its creative authorship is Portuguese.

Nothing is excluded for being small, obscure, amateur, unfinished, or commercially unsuccessful.

How entries are verified

Every entry carries a verification tier, so you always know how much to trust it.

  1. Documented A credible source documents its existence.
  2. Portuguese authorship A source establishes Portuguese authorship.
  3. Cross-checked Key details verified against a second independent source.

Step 2 is about evidence, not eligibility.

The tier is the highest step reached.

Example card
Verification →
Studio2015

Every card carries its tier in the top-right corner of the artwork.

  • A completed step.
  • A step not yet done.
  • The star (lower-left) — a public comment by the subject, separate from the tiers.

The example has steps 1 and 2 complete.

First-party comments

Separate from the tiers, an entry may also carry a small star in the lower-left corner of its cover, marking that its subject commented on it in public.

Transparency

This project is run in the open.

  • Costs.
  • Earnings.
  • Data.
  • Method.
  • Changes.
  • What we collect.

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See the running costs and earnings →

How to help

This archive is built from public sources, so it is incomplete by definition. If you know of something missing, tell us.

Get in touch →